Malawian President Joyce Banda Annuls Elections Sending State Into Deeper Political Turmoil
Banda ordered a fresh election within 90 days but is not standing as a presidential candidate
President Joyce Banda of Malawi has declared this week's election to be "null and void", in a decision that triggered protests from her rival and was challenged by the national electoral authority.
Banda on Saturday claimed there were "serious irregularities" with the poll including multiple voting, ballot-tampering and a malfunctioning computerised vote-counting system.
"I am nullifying the elections, using the powers invested in me by the Malawi constitution," she said. A fresh election would be held within 90 days, she said, adding that she would not stand in the re-run.
The head of the electoral authority said Banda did not have the authority to annul an election, and that vote counting was continuing.
"As far as I know, the president doesn't have any constitutional powers to nullify the election, only the electoral commission has the powers to do so," the commission chairman Maxon Mbendera told Reuters news agency.
The commission had earlier released preliminary results showing opposition Democratic Progressive Party candidate Peter Mutharika leading with 42 percent of the vote, followed by Banda with 23 percent. This was based on 30 percent of the total votes counted.
"Nothing in the constitution gives the president powers to cancel an election," said Mutharika. "I have never heard anywhere in the world where an opposition can rig an election," he said.
Lameck Masina, a journalist based in Malawi, told Al Jazeera that Banda’s move was surprising, but showed the leader had not performed as well as she had expected.
“The president has done this to show that she is still relevant to Malawians, although she is losing miserably at the polls she had a hope to win comprehensively.”
On Friday, the Malawi's electoral commission said it had received 135 complaints of irregularities, which it was investigating before announcing the official results.
"We're committed to a process that's accurate and transparent. As far as we know, polling was free and fair in 99 percent of the centres and both local and international observers have commended the process," said Mbendera.
Malawian President Joyce Banda 'annuls election'
Malawi's President Joyce Banda says she is annulling this week's general election - in which she was a candidate - because of voting "irregularities".
Ms Banda had earlier said Tuesday's vote had been marred by rigging, multiple voting and computer-hacking.
She said a new vote should be held within 90 days but she would not stand again in any new poll.
However, the head of the electoral commission said the president did not have the power to annul the vote.
Malawi's election was chaotic, with one BBC correspondent reporting people voting two days on from election day because of delays in distributing polling material.
Frustrated voters set one polling station alight and smashed election material at another.
In some places, voting boxes or lids did not arrive so officials used buckets and plastic wrap.
The president of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), Maxon Mbendera. said despite problems involving the electronic count, the poll remained valid and vote-counting would go on.
Late on Friday, the MEC said Joyce Banda's rival candidate Peter Mutharika had taken a lead of 42%, with 30% of votes counted. Ms Banda was in second place with 23%, the commission said.
"I am nullifying the elections, using the powers invested in me by the Malawi constitution," Ms Banda told a news conference.
"I want to give Malawians an opportunity to choose a candidate of their choice in a free and fair manner. When elections are to be held again, I will be stepping aside," she added.
Mrs Banda had previously accused a party, which she did not name, of infiltrating and hacking the MEC's counting system.
The MEC's chairman denied that its system had been hacked.
In a previous statement about the elections, Mrs Banda had said that irregularities included:
The arrest of presiding officers who were "caught in the act of rigging";
Some people voting up to three times;
"Serious anomalies" where some candidates won more votes than the number of registered voters;
Discarded and tampered ballots;
Communication devices of some monitors being blocked;
Around 7.5 million people were eligible to vote in the fifth elections since the end of one-party rule 20 years ago.
This was the first time that Malawi held presidential, parliamentary and local elections on the same day.
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| Malawian President Joyce Banda has annulled the national elections due to irregularities. She wants to hold another vote in 90 days where she will not stand. |
President Joyce Banda of Malawi has declared this week's election to be "null and void", in a decision that triggered protests from her rival and was challenged by the national electoral authority.
Banda on Saturday claimed there were "serious irregularities" with the poll including multiple voting, ballot-tampering and a malfunctioning computerised vote-counting system.
"I am nullifying the elections, using the powers invested in me by the Malawi constitution," she said. A fresh election would be held within 90 days, she said, adding that she would not stand in the re-run.
The head of the electoral authority said Banda did not have the authority to annul an election, and that vote counting was continuing.
"As far as I know, the president doesn't have any constitutional powers to nullify the election, only the electoral commission has the powers to do so," the commission chairman Maxon Mbendera told Reuters news agency.
The commission had earlier released preliminary results showing opposition Democratic Progressive Party candidate Peter Mutharika leading with 42 percent of the vote, followed by Banda with 23 percent. This was based on 30 percent of the total votes counted.
"Nothing in the constitution gives the president powers to cancel an election," said Mutharika. "I have never heard anywhere in the world where an opposition can rig an election," he said.
Lameck Masina, a journalist based in Malawi, told Al Jazeera that Banda’s move was surprising, but showed the leader had not performed as well as she had expected.
“The president has done this to show that she is still relevant to Malawians, although she is losing miserably at the polls she had a hope to win comprehensively.”
On Friday, the Malawi's electoral commission said it had received 135 complaints of irregularities, which it was investigating before announcing the official results.
"We're committed to a process that's accurate and transparent. As far as we know, polling was free and fair in 99 percent of the centres and both local and international observers have commended the process," said Mbendera.
Malawian President Joyce Banda 'annuls election'
Malawi's President Joyce Banda says she is annulling this week's general election - in which she was a candidate - because of voting "irregularities".
Ms Banda had earlier said Tuesday's vote had been marred by rigging, multiple voting and computer-hacking.
She said a new vote should be held within 90 days but she would not stand again in any new poll.
However, the head of the electoral commission said the president did not have the power to annul the vote.
Malawi's election was chaotic, with one BBC correspondent reporting people voting two days on from election day because of delays in distributing polling material.
Frustrated voters set one polling station alight and smashed election material at another.
In some places, voting boxes or lids did not arrive so officials used buckets and plastic wrap.
The president of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), Maxon Mbendera. said despite problems involving the electronic count, the poll remained valid and vote-counting would go on.
Late on Friday, the MEC said Joyce Banda's rival candidate Peter Mutharika had taken a lead of 42%, with 30% of votes counted. Ms Banda was in second place with 23%, the commission said.
"I am nullifying the elections, using the powers invested in me by the Malawi constitution," Ms Banda told a news conference.
"I want to give Malawians an opportunity to choose a candidate of their choice in a free and fair manner. When elections are to be held again, I will be stepping aside," she added.
Mrs Banda had previously accused a party, which she did not name, of infiltrating and hacking the MEC's counting system.
The MEC's chairman denied that its system had been hacked.
In a previous statement about the elections, Mrs Banda had said that irregularities included:
The arrest of presiding officers who were "caught in the act of rigging";
Some people voting up to three times;
"Serious anomalies" where some candidates won more votes than the number of registered voters;
Discarded and tampered ballots;
Communication devices of some monitors being blocked;
Around 7.5 million people were eligible to vote in the fifth elections since the end of one-party rule 20 years ago.
This was the first time that Malawi held presidential, parliamentary and local elections on the same day.
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